A Berry Good Weekend

[MWScott72]

The Berry has been nice to me this weekend.  I think the storms that blew thru changed the dynamic out there.  Fishing was much better this weekend than it has been over the past month.  I got to take my wife out on Friday, and we had a good time.  She’s not fond of fishing, but being my birthday, she said she’d go.  She’s over liked lake fishing because it’s “boring” but with a finder to “see” what’s going on below, she was entertained.  Something about being able to
visually see what was going on made it a lot more enjoyable that she was thinking it would be.  Bite was good from 8am until about noon then it tailed off.  We stuck around till 1:30, but that last 1.5 hrs was not too productive.  Lookers but very few takers.  Ended up taking 7 bows home for friends and family.

I hit the lake again this morning with a friend.  Ran into Icerman and two of his boys.  We headed to the same point, and both groups did well.  One of his boys even landed a 12-13” Kokanee.  Gotta say, I was a bit jealous.  Never landed any in that area in half a dozen trips the past couple years.  Fishing was great from 8 until about 11, then slowed way down until 1pm. We made a move from
 45 FOW to 31 (all of about 30 feet distance-wise on the ice) and the fishing exploded for the next hour.  Aggressive fish (mainly bows) 10-20 feet down.  It died around d 2pm (lookers but not takers), so we packed up at 2:30 and headed out.

Best baits were the normal - 1/16 and 1/32 white jigs with Gitzillas or Gizzy Bugs.  White with red flake was best, but Chartreuse and Green got hit too.  Also caught a number on a pearl paddle bug.  Evenly divided between some rigs with flasher/kastmasters to attract or just the jig.  Rigs were tipped with mealworms and smeared with smelly jelly.  Best depth were between about 8-20 feet.

There was about 3-4” of new snow at first light.  Easy walking in.  Walk out wasn’t difficult either, but the top was soft and you sunk 2-3”.  Still not bad by slush standards whatsoever.  Probably will become an issue by Tuesday/Wednesday with the warmer temps coming.

Nice to see you again Tim and glad you guys got into them.  I was surprised that you remembered me!  I may have to Give you buzz if I strike out on birds this spring.  I love hunting down Monticello way.  Just wish the drive wasn’t so dang far!

[icerman]

Thanks Mike for sharing your spot with us today!  We had a great time also, brought home our limit of bows, largest was 21.5" (3 lbs), my sons personal best!  I agree, the white with red flecked gazzila with meal worm worked best, but I did good with a waxie (saved the meal worms for my boys).  Not sure how many fish we caught between the 3 of us, 55 maybe?  The Koke was definitely a pleasant surprise!

It was good to see you again today!  I appreciate your posts, they are informative and helpful!

[obifishkenobi]

The Berry has been nice to me this weekend.  I think the storms that blew thru changed the dynamic out there.  Fishing was much better this weekend than it has been over the past month.  I got to take my wife out on Friday, and we had a good time.  She’s not fond of fishing, but being my birthday, she said she’d go.  She’s over liked lake fishing because it’s “boring” but with a finder to “see” what’s going on below, she was entertained.  Something about being able to
visually see what was going on made it a lot more enjoyable that she was thinking it would be.  Bite was good from 8am until about noon then it tailed off.  We stuck around till 1:30, but that last 1.5 hrs was not too productive.  Lookers but very few takers.  Ended up taking 7 bows home for friends and family.

I hit the lake again this morning with a friend.  Ran into Icerman and two of his boys.  We headed to the same point, and both groups did well.  One of his boys even landed a 12-13” Kokanee.  Gotta say, I was a bit jealous.  Never landed any in that area in half a dozen trips the past couple years.  Fishing was great from 8 until about 11, then slowed way down until 1pm. We made a move from
 45 FOW to 31 (all of about 30 feet distance-wise on the ice) and the fishing exploded for the next hour.  Aggressive fish (mainly bows) 10-20 feet down.  It died around d 2pm (lookers but not takers), so we packed up at 2:30 and headed out.

Best baits were the normal - 1/16 and 1/32 white jigs with Gitzillas or Gizzy Bugs.  White with red flake was best, but Chartreuse and Green got hit too.  Also caught a number on a pearl paddle bug.  Evenly divided between some rigs with flasher/kastmasters to attract or just the jig.  Rigs were tipped with mealworms and smeared with smelly jelly.  Best depth were between about 8-20 feet.

There was about 3-4” of new snow at first light.  Easy walking in.  Walk out wasn’t difficult either, but the top was soft and you sunk 2-3”.  Still not bad by slush standards whatsoever.  Probably will become an issue by Tuesday/Wednesday with the warmer temps coming.

Nice to see you again Tim and glad you guys got into them.  I was surprised that you remembered me!  I may have to Give you buzz if I strike out on birds this spring.  I love hunting down Monticello way.  Just wish the drive wasn’t so dang far!

Great report, I’m glad you had a good birthday weekend. Hard to to beet the white with red flake Gazilla it catches everything.

[Muskyon46]

Sounds like you guys had a great spring day at the berry. If it wasn't for that warm up coming I would be rethinking my plan to pack it up for the season. Thanks for sharing.

[MWScott72]

I think there’s definitely more time to fish the Berry, but that slush is going to dictate where people are willing to go. What was “easy” earlier will be “harder”, and instead of a mile, you might only go 1/4 mile to a spot.